Jesse Eisenberg Archives

“The End of the Tour” Takes Us On a Thoughtful Ride (Short Review)

The End of the Tour (2015) recounts Rolling Stone magazine reporter David Lipsky (Jesse Eisenberg) accompanying the late writer David Foster Wallace (Jason Segel) on a five-day book tour in 1996. The movie, based on Lipsky’s memoir Although Of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself: A Road Trip with David Foster Wallace, is a low-key fascinating meditation on several topics, illuminated by the clash of a literary genius with the reporter’s attempts to find a story.

Segel has received a lot of well-deserved praise for his sympathetic portrayal of Wallace, and Eisenberg also gives one of his best career performances. The main focus on the film is on the conversation of the two men. As in movies like My Dinner With Andre (1981), it is imperative that the actors engage us with the dialogue, and the actors pull it off, aided by director James Ponsoldt and screenwriter by Donald Margulies.

The effectiveness of the film depends not on major action and not even on a major revelation. Instead, the movie engages us as we listen and try to learn more about Wallace, the genius who wrote Infinite Jest. We do learn about Wallace, but the movie does not overshoot, staying anchored in Lipsky’s memoir where he only had five days of access to Wallace. But the movie features smart dialogue and is revealing, both about Wallace and about Lipsky, as we watch the reporter do what reporters do as they invade a person’s privacy.

Viewers do not need to know much about Wallace, who killed himself in 2008 (as revealed at the beginning of the movie). The film works on a number of levels and is entertaining to anyone seeking a thoughtful movie about an interesting man. But for fans and those interested in Wallace, the movie is especially revealing, as Segel’s portrayal allows us to feel we have Wallace back, even if for a short while. While there is no big revealing scene that tells us all we want to know about Wallace, the final shot of Wallace before the end credits is quite beautiful. There is an additional cute short scene after the main end credits (although one might have preferred that the director would have let the earlier final scene stand).

Conclusion? The End of the Tour is thoughtful entertainment for those who enjoy interesting conversation and can be satisfied with a well-made film that features no major action sequences or a surprise ending. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a 92% critics rating and an 87% audience rating.

The End of the Tour Trivia: Fans of the TV show Freaks & Geeks will be happy to see Becky Ann Baker playing a bookstore manager onscreen with Segel. Both Baker and Segel were regulars on the TV series.

More David Foster Wallace: For more on David Foster Wallace, check out his brilliant 2005 commencement address at Kenyon College.

The End of the Tour Unimportant Mistake: In an early scene in the film where Wallace and Lipsky are in a convenience store, the two walk past a shelf where Heinz mustard is prominently displayed. It is unclear if it is a paid product placement, but Heinz mustard is a new product that was not around in 1996 when the movie is set. Of course, only mustard fans will notice.

What did you think of The End of the Tour? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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Jason Segel as David Foster Wallace in ‘The End of the Tour’

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Jason Segel as David Foster Wallace in ‘The End of the Tour’

Segel as David Foster Wallace
In a new trailer for “The End of the Tour,” actor Jason Segel portrays the brilliant writer David Foster Wallace. The film follows Rolling Stone reporter David Lipsky (Jesse Eisenberg) traveling with Wallace for an interview not long after the publicatoin of Wallace’s 1996 novel Infinite Jest. James Ponsoldt directed the movie, which is based on a memoir by Lipsky called Although Of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself: A Road Trip with David Foster Wallace.

The trailer indicates Segel pulls off the serious role as the late Wallace very well and makes this one of the movies I am looking forward to seeing.

The End of the Tour will hit theaters in a limited release on July 31.

What do you think of the “The End of the Tour” trailer? Leave your two cents in the comments.

“The End of the Tour” Takes Us On a Thoughtful Ride (Short Review)

Dracula’s Lament

Empathy and the Mystical Oneness of All Things Deep Down

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To Rome with Love (Short Review)

(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)

To Rome with Love (Short Review)

Most reviews of Woody Allen’s latest film, To Rome with Love (2012), at some point feel the need to say the latest is not as good as Allen’s success from last year, Midnight in Paris. While it is true that the new film lacks the storyline of its predecessor, To Rome with Love is a light-hearted romp set amidst the beauty of Rome that has many funny moments and is a good summer movie.

In Woody Allen: A Documentary (2011), Allen shows a pile of scrap paper he carries around where he writes notes for ideas to movies. He explains that when it is time to write a new film, he throws the notes down and looks through them. I can imagine him doing that before he made To Rome with Love, finding four stories he liked but that on their own could not sustain a full-length film. Then, I imagine, he hit upon the idea to throw the four tales together into one movie and create To Rome with Love. And Allen being the talented director and writer that he is, he creates a fun and entertaining movie.

To Rome with Love features four stories with separate characters connected only in that they all are in Rome. One story follows an average worker played by Roberto Benigni who suddenly finds himself famous for no reason. In another story, a character played by Allen hears the father of his daughter’s boyfriend singing in the shower and decides to make him famous. In a third tale, a newly married Italian couple become separated in the big city and the husband ends up having to pretend that a prostitute (Penélope Cruz) is his wife. In the fourth story, a character played by Alec Baldwin goes looking for his past and ends up in a story where a young man (Jesse Eisenberg) considers cheating on his girlfriend (Greta Gerwig) with her friend (Ellen Page).

I will not ruin any of the stories, but different people will enjoy different stories more than the others. While I found them all interesting, I could not help thinking that the Baldwin-Eisenberg-Gerwig-Page tale is the one story that might have had a chance to be developed into the centerpiece of film on its own.

Conclusion? If you are looking for a summer romantic comedy with some laughs and wit, check out Woody Allen’s To Rome with Love. As all the critics will remind you, do not expect Midnight in Paris. But do not let that comparison stop you from seeing an entertaining funny film.

Other Reviews Because Why Should You Trust Me?: Rotten Tomatoes reflects shattered Midnight in Paris expectations from many critics and viewers, showing a 45% Critics Rating and a 50% Audience Rating. Mike Scott at the New Orleans Times-Picayune agrees with the low rating and calls the film, “shrug-worthy.” Gary Wolcutt at the Tri-City Herald, though, says the movie works “brilliantly” and gives it 4 1/2 stars. Finally, although the full review is not online for non-subscribers, David Denby of The New Yorker disagrees with many other critics and praises To Rome with Love as “a stronger film” than Midnight in Paris.